


Blindsided

by Purplefern



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Colorblindness, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I'd be pretty freaked out not being able to see colors correctly though, Not Proofread, Short One Shot, being colorblind must suck if your ninja team is color-coded, idk if this is an overreaction or not, post-Day of the Departed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:55:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28777155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purplefern/pseuds/Purplefern
Summary: Cole was human once again.Of course, that didn't mean that everything was instantly better. There were still a lot of changes that everyone had to adapt to, including one, weirder, side effect that no one anticipated.
Relationships: Cole & Kai (Ninjago), Cole & Zane (Ninjago)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 49





	Blindsided

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys, just a little something I wrote after looking around the Ninjago Wiki.

Cole was human once again. 

Of course, that didn't mean that everything was instantly better. There were still a lot of changes that everyone had to adapt to; like how Cole would flinch even from small drops of water, the jagged scar on his face, the new powers, or the way he’d constantly look surprised at making physical contact with something. But all of that was relatively expected from having been a ghost. There was one, weirder, side effect that no one anticipated.

This unexpected change revealed itself the morning after the Day of the Departed, in what would have been a completely ordinary circumstance. It was early that morning, and Kai was heading over to the recently-installed training dummies in their new (and supposedly ghost-free) home, wearing full gi and hood for his usual morning workout. When, suddenly from behind he heard Cole shout, “Hey, Lloyd!” 

Kai looked around the area for the mentioned kid, but he didn’t see Lloyd anywhere. He and Cole were the only ones here. 

The earth ninja was walking towards him, though, shouting again, “Hey! Lloyd! I’m tryin’ to talk to ya, greenbean!” 

Kai checked his surroundings once again, wondering if anything had changed. But the training ground was still empty, and Cole continued walking towards him. Confused, he pulled his hood off and turned around to face the black ninja with a puzzled look. 

“Kai?” asked Cole, looking confused himself, stopping short in his attempts to catch up to the other ninja.Shaking his head, he resumed, growing close enough that Kai could see his face more clearly. He had a bemused smile, but his brows were low over his eyes in confusion. “What’s with the getup?” he asked, stopping short next to Kai and grabbing at the sleeve of his gi. Dropping it, he cocked his head to the side with that same bemused grin, remarking, “Aren’t we way past you pretending you’re the green ninja?” 

“Umm, this is my normal outfit?” replied Kai, looking over his gi to double-check that it was its usual firetruck red. (It was.)

The earth ninja’s smile fully fizzled out, and now both ninja were sporting confused frowns. “Huh? But?” the black ninja stammered, frantically scanning up and down Kai’s outfit. “Are you sure?” he questioned, confusion edging into concern. 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Kai replied dryly. Cole was still squinting at him in confusion, his eyes locked onto the sleeve of his gi. Frankly, the fire ninja was getting worried. “I think we should talk to Zane,” he declared. 

Which was how Cole found himself sitting in a chair in the monastery’s medbay, staring at dots and trying to convince himself that it didn’t mean what Zane was saying it meant. “I’m telling you, there’s nothing _there_!” he pushed desperately, while Zane peered at him sympathetically over the card in his hands. 

“No, there’s definitely a 7 there,” Kai told him gently, looking at his brother with protective concern. 

Zane put the cards aside thoughtfully, while Cole covered his face with his hands and tried to come to grips with what the test had told him. 

“I don’t get it!” he lamented, “I’ve never had a problem with this before!” 

“It would appear becoming a ghost was not without its lasting effects,” offered the nindroid softly as an explanation. 

Cole blew out a sigh, clenching his eyes shut, not wanting to look at the condemning circles any more, or Kai looking like the prophesied hero. _Stupid,_ he was so **_stupid_** _._ How had he not noticed any of this before? Yeah, it was dark last night, and he was recovering from being able to touch stuff again and the fight with Yang and all, but _how_ had he not noticed he was suddenly _colorblind_? 

“I’m sure this isn’t a big deal,” Kai attempted to reassure, floundering when his usually grounded brother leaned into his hands in distress. Looking between him and Zane, Kai said with a hopeful note, “Tons of people struggle with colors, right?” 

“Approximately 8% of the population, or about 300 million people, are colorblind,” inputted Zane immediately. As soon as Kai and Cole had come to him, explaining what had happened, the nindroid had done his research into the topic. Already he was calculating to himself all the ways to adapt the ninjas’ way of life to Cole’s new condition. They were going to have to make some changes, especially with their usual identification method of color-coding everything, but Zane was more than ready to do whatever it took for his brother to continue as close to normal as possible. 

Coming around to rest a comforting hand on his struggling brother’s shoulder, he said as much aloud, “Do not worry, Cole. According to my research colorblindness is not usually that detrimental,” looking to Kai with determination he reassured, “We will all make sure to accommodate your new condition.” 

Kai followed Zane’s lead, placing his hand on Cole’s other shoulder, nodding to what Zane said. “Yeah,” he seconded, “We’ll make this work.” 

Inhaling and then exhaling, Cole removed his hands from his face and opened his eyes, looking first to the discarded tests, and then at the reassuring faces of his brothers. It was still weird to see Kai in green, but he was sure with time and help, he’d adapt. “Thanks, guys,” he said, smiling once again. 

**Author's Note:**

> So, yeah, on the wiki (and in [ a Tweet by Bragi ](https://twitter.com/bragischutjr/status/1285037057396494336)) it's mentioned that Cole might be colorblind. But it's weird cause he never showed that before. Yeah, that's cause of retconning, but then I had the thought "wouldn't it be interesting if turning into a ghost _made_ Cole colorblind?" So here's this short fic on that. 
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Comments, kudos, etc always super appreciated. :)


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